[SLENDER] Unknown Ridge V1A

Miki · Jul 11, 2024

You Must Be Forgotten

RED team has been stranded on a roadtrip and have no choice but to brave the harsh wilderness to find rescue. Unknown Ridge is a Slender Fortress “Adventure” map trekking over 4 major areas collecting all pages on the way needed to escape at the end with.

Features:

Intense and dynamic stormy weatherーdon’t be afraid and you can sneak behind bosses.
Dense woods and rolling hills to climb.
Adventure map: traverse the entire map and reach the end to escape!
4 major areas to explore (Mountains, Village, Mill, Town).
Lobby Minigames: enjoy PVE Boss fights and bumper car racing in between rounds.

Play Unknown Ridge now on DISC-FF's map rotation!
DISC-FF (US) IP: 74.91.113.50:27019

slender_unknownridge_v1a
Requires a 3rd party Slender Fortress server plugin to host.
Special thanks to DISC-FF for commissioning Unknown Ridge.
Linktree (my links)
Gamebanana Mirror
Steam Workshop Mirror

The Swamp Theme - TF2Maps.net

swamp.tf2maps.net

Frontline!

Frontline! Is a TF2 community project with the theme of “20th Century Warfare” such as WW1 / WW2

frontline.tf

The London Pack

Sketch of zone A. Notably the underground prison section was cut.

Sketch of final area, building layout was changed as random spawn point groups are always be in play unlike the original Slenderman game.

Miki · Jul 11, 2024

This post will go in detail about Unknown Ridge’s development, I want to explain my thoughts concisely while making it. Unknown Ridge began as a commission from DISC-FF looking for new Slender Fortress maps that the community can enjoy. Having mapped for Slender Fortress before, I had an idea of what to expect and accepted this as an invitation for my ideas to come out, particularly a map using the storm tech developed for Super Zombie Fortress Sugarmill.

The primary goals for Unknown Ridge were:

Create for the Adventure game type
Use the dynamic storm on an original map
Make heavy use of the Sprinkle tool
Improve the waiting room

1) “Adventure” is a sub-genre of standard Slender maps that isn’t focused on collecting 8 pages in one area. Instead, you travel through a linear map collecting pages as a means of progressing to new areas, like an adventure as the name implies. There are few examples of this map type, but the concept reminded me of No More Room in Hell, a free Steam game that I perceived as similar gameplay in mind. As such, I started by using NMRIH as a reference designing some objectives and puzzles.

In the end however, puzzles were kept very simple as a puzzle once solved loses its challenge and replayability. Therefore, puzzles compliment the Slender boss, but do not supersede them as the primary challenge. I also tried to avoid singular paths to the next area, but this sometimes has been unintuitive to not implement. Playtesting as always can help refine these areas.

2) While the storm itself doesn’t require any additional work, level design techniques are helpful to understand about the storm’s gameplay changes. For one, the storm creates a tempo where players seek shelter from the rain because it’s much harder to hear and see threats during a storm. Slender NPCs respect fog and it is possible to sneak around them during a storm, but evading them if you’re caught will likely not end well.

And because the storm is randomly created and thus unpredictable, you can place interiors across the map such as sheds so that players can make a choice: stay safe and undetected inside shelter, or push forward at the risk of bumping into the Slenderman.

3) The sprinkle tool is a not new, but spotlighted addition with Hammer++, and I wanted to design a map heavily using it. Sprinkling uses a premade list of props to decorate an area, and by sprinkling a variety of trees, rocks, and shrubs, I could swiftly paint a forest across any landscape. As such, the majority of Unknown Ridge’s forest areas are first painted over displacements using the sprinkle tool and then manually adjusted using the random prop placements as a base.

If you would like the same sprinkle list I used as a base, you can copy and paste from this spoiler:

"Fir Trees" //This is what shows up in Type
{
base //The base values of what you want to sprinkle. Every entity will have these values, but you do not need to put anything here
{
"classname" "prop_static"
grid "256 256" // The default grid size of this type, this can be overridden in Hammer
}

10
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01a_opt.mdl"
}

10
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01b_opt.mdl"
}

10
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01c_opt.mdl"
}
10
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01d_opt.mdl"
}
5
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01e_opt.mdl"
}

10
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_douglasfir01f_opt.mdl"
}
10
{
"model" "models/props_rocks/cliff_wall_06.mdl"
"skin" "1"
}
5
{
"model" "models/props_treesway/tree_pine_extrasmall_reference.mdl"
}
10
{
"model" "models/props_swamp/shrub_03c.mdl"
}
10
{
"model" "models/props_rocks/cliff_wall_09a.mdl"
"skin" "1"
}
2
{
"model" "models/props_forest/tree_tallpine01f.mdl"
}
}

4) On large servers, Slender Fortress typically requires most players to sit out in between rounds as BLU team. Although unnecessary to the experience, a waiting room sets the tone for the level, and for some players will be where the majority of their time is spent.

So, I made the waiting room as part of the map’s story. Unlike RED, BLU team safely reached their destination where they go camping in the woods. Some players simply enjoy hanging out and taunting with each other, so spawn is a cozy campfire pizza party. For those full on pizza, there is a bumper car race track with PVP and PVE arenas accessible offshore. This achieves the narrative, social, and entertainment goals of mine for players to enjoy.

Let’s love instances

One trick I found useful was separating the BLU lobby from the Slender section as an instance. With large levels, instances speed up editing and opening files while allowing ease of repositioning. Instances can make your life easier in general, so don’t hesitate to use them where you see fit.

A particular problem I had would be both stages fighting for the same sky camera. I got around this by simply placing the two sections as close as I could (which is where instancing came in handy). The main stage takes precedence in presentation, and while the lobby doesn’t look perfect because of this, it works. If necessary however, I could simply have extended the skysphere horizon texture.

Adjusting the cabin instance inside the BLU lobby

The nav mesh was a little tricky at first due to the types of areas I wanted to create. To cut to the end, I treated the NPC boss like an MvM robot (but on its own separate NPC team identification). In my testing, the nav generation ignored all types of clip brushes and I found it more convenient to use the same methods I’ve used for my SZF maps to clip RED team.

Also, I learned that func_nav_blocker’s “everyone” parameter doesn’t work and you need to edit its -1 value to -2.

Final words

Lethal Company, Alan Wake, Deep Rock Galactic, Slender: The Arrival, and Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya were some of the many inspirations during this project. I believe your inspirations in life are vital towards creating anything meaningful, because what we surround ourselves with are reflected in our creations.

For example, Mystia’s Izakaya is a restaurant sim I’ve picked up from the Spring sale, and in that game Mystia listens to a quote that I’m paraphrasing: “To make a great dish requires soul, not strictly following the recipe.” which resonated with me. Mystia sings when she cooks, which is represented as a minigame as you prepare most dishes. Her voice and passion brings soul in her cooking, and I find it a beautiful metaphor about putting your heart into everything you do.

Momiji's game developer insight

Is this just cheesy surface level advice? Maybe. But I’m fairly convinced that as we grow older we lose sight of who we are and who we’re trying to beーit’s a common pitfall. Maps are the stage which players express themselves onto, and fulfilling this comes with years of experience and learning about yourself and others around you. Ultimately, Unknown Ridge’s reception lies in the Slender Fortress player base, and I hope I’ve delivered a fun and unique map for them to enjoy.

Helped me through development, maybe it will help you too?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehbAM9JgXK0

DaVinchi · Jul 12, 2024

is this a vscript gamemode?

Miki · Jul 12, 2024

DaVinchi said:
is this a vscript gamemode?

No, it's a Sourcemod plugin. Looks like this on servers running it:

Miki · Jul 14, 2024

V1A

Fixed escape sequence not working
Fixed page model orientation
Increased time gained per page from 60 to 90 seconds
Increased max round timer from 5 to 6 minutes
Reduced escape time limit to 180 seconds (3 minutes) from 190
Swapped text channels for objective messages (from channel 2 to 4)
Swapped most clip brushes with player clip brushes to not interfere with NPC line of sight tests
Fixed a potential sheriff page spawning inside walls
Added death cameras for RED on round loss showing the farthest zone they reached
Added env_wind
Added game start sound for RED
Reenabled PVE teleporter after a brief cooldown time
Added another light to zone a's switch to show it is disabled
Adjusted nav blocker entities & nav mesh
Adjusted zone b lake page spawn points
Fixed missing Town Storm soundscape

Please report any issues/bugs/feedback that you experience with the map, I will be grateful for any reports.

Miki · Jul 14, 2024

An update from today's playtest graciously provided by Demon Hamster's server: everything went exceedingly well and everyone seemed to greatly enjoy themselves. Players voted to extend the map 3 times and had plenty of positive comments. I only came across minor issues overall and after the session had ended, and I'm very pleased with how the map turned out. Below is a heatmap collected of RED deaths over most of the almost 3 hour session:

The map was fairly balanced in my opinion, with the scores slightly favoring BLU by the end (aka, RED losses). Some of my favorite chokepoints were zone a's woods, zone b's tall grass, zone d's cargo container, and zone d's sheriff's office. BLU mostly went into ghost mode and those remaining often preferred the PVE over the raceway (but some players who did love the raceway were vocal about it). Nobody bothered with the PVP (as expected), and I don't blame them because I don't like Slender PVP either. Also: I underestimated the power of pizza and instead the delinquent fun of lighting your friends on fire seemed to be a favorite on the server.

Standing on the campfire would light you on fire, and it created a fun social moment that the spawn area was not intentionally trying to create, but still a win in my book.

A couple things I observed:

NPCs can eventually phase through func_doors/func_brush if necessary to pass through
Certain bosses alter fog and even the 2D skybox
Pathfinding would be comparable to GMod NextBots, and bosses aren't as helpless as the Github wiki poised them as.
Health packs were a fairly good reward for players to explore off the main path to heal with
Shallow water can lead to unique waterboarding deaths for certain bosses

(blurry screenshot courtesy of Fire)

I believe I've succeeded in my goal of a fun and unique map, and has proved to be a crowd favorite, which I'm proud to be able to provide. I plan to do another small update for the map and a Steam Workshop release too, but I don't think much else needs to change from here on out. Thanks to anyone who participated, and anyone who plays Unknown Ridge in the future.

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[SLENDER] Unknown Ridge V1A

Miki

L2: Junior Member

The Swamp Theme - TF2Maps.net

Frontline!

Miki

L2: Junior Member

DaVinchi

L1: Registered

Miki

L2: Junior Member

Miki

L2: Junior Member

Miki

L2: Junior Member

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